Partnership Criteria
by c0ntxgious
Summary: Secret Santa for Kittyandstars! Elliot rejoins the squad. E/O & O/N one-shot. R&R Please! Merry Christmas everybody, hope it's a good one!


**Disclaimer: Okay, yeah. So I know everybody mentions it in every single story so this is kind of pointless. But no, I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. (:**

** AN: Okie dokie, this is a Secret Santa gift for Kittyandstars. It's about Elliot rejoining the squad. There will be some E/O and O/N. I wasn't sure which pairing you'd want so I just threw in there what I liked, I hope that you like it too! Your request was a little bit vague so I wasn't sure who you'd want together. Sorry, hope you enjoy this! Merry Christmas to everybody, this is probably the last story I'll be posting until after New Years day! At least I think so...but you never know what could happen! (: **

Those footsteps. That noise. It was so familiar. It rang in her ears, alerting her that he was back. She didn't even have to look up. She knew he was there. The footsteps got closer and closer, until they approached her desk. She stared down at a familliar pair of black shoes.

She couldn't be melodramatic about this. If she was then he'd think of her differently or think he's affected her a lot. He has affected her a lot. But he can't know that. He betrayed her. She could not going to let him win anymore.

She tried to force herself to raise her eyes up and look at him, but her head felt heavy and didn't want to lift. Her head wouldn't cooperate. She tried again to lift her head and she was successful, only then her eyes wouldn't open.

Finally, she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Hey," he said.

Olivia stared at him, not in an evil way, but not in the friendly way she used to look at him. The emotion was gone from her face. She looked cold and exhausted. She blinked, her eyelashes feeling particularly heavier than they were just a minute ago, before Elliot made an appearance.

"Why are you here? Did you come to visit?" she asked quietly, in a husky voice. It was emotionless. It was tired and barely above a whisper.

"Not exactly," he replied, staring at her in confusion.

"Good, because we're busy today. Cap's gone right now so if you need him you can come back later," she said. She looked back down at her paperwork. She was not putting on a show for him, like he thought she was. She really didn't care much. He obviously wasn't there to stay, so she didn't have a reason to care.

Elliot sat down at his old desk. "I've already talked to the captain. He gave me my job back. We've gotten things worked out with internal affairs."

She has imagined this day a lot lately, but it didn't feel like she thought it would. She still felt neglected, she didn't feel like her partner was back. But it wasn't his fault and she knew that. It wasn't his fault that he left. But it _was_ his fault that he didn't call her back! He could have at least told her what was going on! If he was going to quit then he could just quit, but how dare he just leave without telling her what was happening!

"That's good," she replied, smiling at him. She didn't really mean it though. She couldn't. She was beginning to get her emotions back, but all she felt was hurt.

Elliot stared at her. "Are you sure about that? You don't seem like you think it's very good," he said.

Olivia stayed silent and looked at him, her head tilted slightly to the left, her teeth biting bitterly into her cheeks. She looked at him a minute, her eyes showing him her hurt. Then she looked to the side for a moment, and back at him with slightly furrowed eyebrows.

"I know it wasn't your fault, Elliot," she said quietly.

"I'd like to think that. But then I wouldn't understand why you're treating me like this."

"It wasn't your fault that you killed her, and it wasn't your fault that you quit. I understand why you did in that situation," she said.

Elliot stared at her expectantly.

"But you could have called me back. It _was_ your fault that you left without telling me and caused me to worry myself sick, you asshole," she added. She hadn't meant to explode like that. She had meant to just point out that he didn't call her. But she just got carried away and said what she really wanted to say. She stood up quickly and walked to the women's bathroom. She needed to be away from him for a moment.

She went in the bathroom and looked in the mirror for a second. She wasn't really seeing her reflection because she was thinking too hard about Elliot. She washed her hands for a minute, not thinking, and then went back into the squad room. Elliot was staring at her but she didn't pay attention. Nick approached her.

"We need to talk to the victim's ex-boyfriend. Apparently they weren't on great terms," he said, referring to the case they'd been working until Elliot barged in.

Olivia nodded. "Okay. Give me just a second."

She walked back to her desk, pulled on her jacket, and started to walk away from the desk. Elliot grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To talk to a victim's ex," she said.

"With him?" Elliot questioned, staring at Nick.

Olivia scoffed. "Yeah, Elliot. He's my partner. You can get with Rollins or Munch and go over the crime scene again."  
>Elliot shook his head at her and stood up, putting his other hand on her other arm now. "You're <em>my<em> partner. You always have been. Nick was a replacement, I've come back and I'm your partner."

Olivia glared at him. "No you're not. You left. You can't just come back and claim me. Nick's my partner now. If you want to debate it then talk to the captain again, but in the end, I'll be given the choice. I'll choose Nick. He's more reliable. I'll see you later," she said, not giving him to open his mouth again. She stormed off, Nick staring at her in confusion. She didn't know what was wrong with her that she was so mad. Just a few minutes ago, she'd been fine. She'd been calm, even though Elliot was right there. But she suddenly just got mad, the more and more she thought about his disappearance and his lack of interest in her well being.

When they got out to the car, Nick looked at Olivia for a minute before starting the ignition.

"What was that about? Was that your old partner?" he asked.

Olivia nodded. "Yeah."

"What's up with you guys?"

"I...I don't even know anymore. He used to be my partner and then he quit. I tried to call him just to be a good partner because we were friends, but he never even called me back. He never told me what happened," she said. She looked over at him. "You can't ever do that to me. Partners are supposed to be able to rely on each other. When he left and didn't tell me what happened, he betrayed my trust and ruined any potential partnership. You can't ever do that to me. That's the only reason I'm telling you about this."

"I won't ever do that. I promise. If I decide to leave, which I probably won't, I'll be sure to tell you," he replied. "You're right about the way partnership works," he added.

Olivia smiled. "Thanks."

He was quiet a minute. "So wait, how long did you work with him?"

"Elliot? 12 years."

"And you're not going to go back to him? I love having you as a partner, but hopefully you understand that I'd be fine with it if you became partners with Elliot again."

"Yeah, I do. But I think we've been at it too long anyway. And I just don't see myself ever being able to fully trust him again. He's not going to like it, but I don't see myself being partners with him ever again," Olivia explained, shaking her head sadly.

Nick nodded. "Well that's good. That means I get to keep you," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Olivia chuckled and put on her seatbelt, implying that they needed to go.

When they got back to the precinct, they brought in the victim's ex-boyfriend with them. They didn't have complete evidence that he had raped her yet, but Olivia was sure she could get a confession out of him because he wasn't the brightest guy ever.

After interrogating him for less than an hour, Nick and Olivia had squeezed a confession out of him. Olivia triumphantly walked out of the interrogation room with Nick following her, and noticed Elliot standing at the window. He'd been watching them. Nick looked at him for a moment, and then, in fear of pissing Elliot off, he walked away.

"You're _my_ partner. This is ridiculous. On one of your voice mails you said you wanted me back-"

"One of my voice mails, Elliot? Oh, so you did listen to them? You listened to every one them, and you didn't bother to contact me? You didn't call me back, or email me, or anything else you could've done?"

"I didn't want to talk to you because I was afraid you'd talk me out of leaving and then I'd have to come back and deal with IAB," he explained.

"Well, obviously that wouldn't have been too bad considering you _are_ back and you _have_ dealt with IAB. You made that decision on your own. You could have called me! You left me alone. Huang left, I haven't seen Melinda in quite some time, and Fin and Munch have new partners as well. You just ditched me with a new partner and didn't even say anything about it. You listened to my voicemails and you heard the hurt in my voice, yet you didn't do anything about it! You could have solved all my problems and-"

"Let's take this somewhere private," Elliot said, grabbing Olivia's arm and walking with her quickly to the lounge.

Olivia immediately began to continue her rant. "You could have solved all of my problems, you could have made me happy, but you left me miserable, having to deal with the adjustment of a new partner! You didn't call me or anything, you just made me get myself through it and ignore my pain. I had to work day by day, solving rape and murder cases, with the weight of your disappearance on my shoulders!" she spat. She was getting so mad, mainly because of her one words, her own reciting of what he'd done to her. She brought up her fist to hit him but she knew she couldn't do it. She let a tear fall out of her eye and she dropped her fist down to Elliot's back. She wrapped her arms around him unexpectedly and put her cheek against his, not knowing what to do with herself. She was going crazy.

Elliot embraced her, glad to have her in his arms, feeling more guilty than he'd ever felt in his whole life. He knew that after this she'd have to forgive him. She obviously still cared about him, even though she tried desperately to act like she didn't.

"I'm sorry. You're right. It's all my fault. I messed up really bad. I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair.

They both heard a noise and Olivia pulled back. The door swung open and Nick walked in. He stared at Olivia.

"I'm sorry I barged in, I was looking for you, Olivia. I..." he started. He stood silently for a minute, staring at Elliot, who he'd just seen hugging Olivia. "Liv, I thought you said that you weren't going to be partners with him again," Nick finished.

Elliot scowled at Nick, confused as to why he was suddenly allowed to call her "Liv." That was _not_ cool at all.

Olivia stepped a few feet away from Elliot.

"I thought you said that partners don't leave each other. You said you didn't trust him anymore," Nick said, confused.

Olivia looked at Nick for a minute, and then back at Elliot. "I did say that. I don't trust him anymore."

Elliot stepped forward. "Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute. Things are going fine and you're about to be my partner again and then Nick comes in here and talks you out of it?"

"Nick's not talking me out of it. I'm sorry, Elliot. I made this decision just about right after I left you all those voice mails that you never answered. Partnership is built on trust, and I can't trust you anymore. And I know you don't think too highly of Nick right now, but...he'll never leave me. If he does then he will tell me why and how I can contact him. I'm sorry. I'm glad you're back, Elliot, but we can't be partners anymore," Olivia explained.

Elliot stared at her for a minute, hurt flashing across his face. "I...I hate this. But I guess I understand," he said after a minute of silence. Then he left quickly, not wanting Nick nor Olivia to see him cry.

Nick looked at Olivia fondly as they walked out of the lounge. "I'm glad you still chose me," he said.

Olivia looked at him. "Me too. Elliot will be fine. I'm still working with him and I'll still see him all the time. I just don't trust him enough to be partners anymore. Thanks for being here for me."

Nick smiled. "No problem. You're an awesome partner by the way. You're making me a better cop every day."

Olivia grinned back at him and sat back down at her desk across from Nick, glancing over at Elliot, who was putting his stuff down at a different desk. This was how it was supposed to be.

**AN: Woahh, I didn't even notice that I rhymed in that last dialogue until I proof read it just now. Phahaha i feel cool. (: Review for me pretty please! Thank you for reading and I hope you all have an amazing Christmas!**


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